Struggle continues for poor countries as curtains fall on UN trade talks

President Uhuru Kenyatta, left, receive copies of Nairobi Maafikiano and Nairobi Azimiyo from Alfred Suescum accompanied by Amina Mohamed Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary during UNCTAD Closing ceremony at KICC on Friday, July 22, 2016. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

As curtains fell on the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Nairobi, representatives of developing countries walked out of the talks still spoiling for war.

It took the negotiators three nights and four days of intense talks in which the rich countries under European Union and JZ pulled on one direction while poor ones under the umbrella of G-77 in the other.

But when they walked out, the document they had drafted was far from what the 134 developing countries in the UN hoped for.

The Nairobi Maafikiano (consensus), was a 44-page negotiated outcome that was largely diluted at the behest of developed countries including United States, European Union and Japan. Developing countries’ wish to have national governments play an increased role in the global economy including international finance and investment, international taxation and globalisation were thwarted. This killed all hopes of African governments to stem illicit financial flows from the continent.

It is estimated that Africa loses about $50 billion (Sh5 trillion) annually to illicit financial flows through tax evasion, tax avoidance and profit shifting by multinational corporations.

Also, developing countries’ wish to have rich countries transfer to them environmentally sound technology flopped as the latter stuck to their guns. Eventually, it was agreed that developed countries would continue helping developing countries with technology transfer even as they offered them access environmentally sound technology.

Nonetheless, President Uhuru Kenyatta who had started the conference by calling for compromise in the negotiations struck a conciliatory note saying that the consensus reached set the path for the integration of the developing countries’ into the global economy.

“This consensus which sets a plan for the next four years is key to giving traction to the commitments that were made last year,” said Kenyatta. He added that the plan would help a number of decisions that were made last year including the tenth ministerial conference in Nairobi. The President of UNCTAD 14 Amina Mohamed described the consensus reached as a “big win for multilateralism.”

Besides Maafikiano, the negotiations also culminated into Draft Nairobi Azimio. It was also agreed that international trade and finance should be done taking into consideration the policy space of a country which gave developing countries’ governments’ greater latitude when dealing with multinational corporations.

“I’m delighted that our 194 member states have been able to reach this consensus, giving a central role to UNCTAD in delivering the sustainable development goals,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi, said.

It was a harrowing moment for the negotiators who remained holed up in an underground room at KICC for 24 hours with some helping themselves to “caffeine pills, candies, and soft drinks” to stay alert.

It was not until 11.20am that final document was ready, forcing the conference’s ceremony to be pushed to six o’clock in the evening. This was after fractious negotiations that saw the North and South countries split down the middle on a number of issues including remittances, illicit financial flows and special treatment on investments.

So rushed was the final document that non-English speakers had to wait longer for a translated copy. The document also had typographic errors. Before deadline, the members had agreed on the need for trade and investment, but G-77 countries insisted on their being done with the context of a ‘policy space’- a term that Japan, United States, Switzerland, Canada and New Zealand under the umbrella of JZ frowned upon and wanted it purged from the document.

Developed countries were also incensed by the inclusion of taxation and illicit financial flows in UNCTAD’s mandate. They were also opposed to a clause that called for transfer of technology to developing countries which would see the latter build own the latter’s technology to build their own products rather than buying from them.

Developing countries wanted the following paragraph included in the final document: “Despite this effort, the global gap between rich and poor countries continues to grow. It is also essential to ensure that there are no impediments to broader participation in the multilateral trading system which must maintain a development approach and avoid politicization so as to enable developing countries to achieve their development goals and contribute to the global economy.”

At the core of UNCTAD’s mandate is the support of developing countries which have not been able to reap the benefits of globalization as the wealthy countries. UNCTAD does this by providing them with “analysis, consensus-building, and technical assistance. Dr Kituyi said they were leaving Nairobi with “strengthened mandate,” which the civil society had said there was plot to dilute it.

But it was a hectic week for the residents of Nairobi as what was supposed to be a blessing to the country turned into a curse to the hundreds of the city residents. Most were forced to make do with huge traffic jams which Mukhisa joked had been baptized “Kituyi traffic.”

Gender inequality

The Conference featured among others ministerial debates, high-level round tables, thematic events, a World Investment Forum, a Global Commodities Forum, a Youth Forum and a Civil Society Forum. Some 90 countries backed an UNCTAD - FAO - UNEP initiative on Wednesday, signing up to a roadmap towards ending harmful fishing subsidies.

The conference which was looking at way of financing Agenda 2013, also discussed issue of increasing intra-African trade which is low compared to the other continents.

The world needs approximately $3.9 trillion (Sh396 trillion) to finance the sustainable development goals (SGDs) whose objective is, among other things, eliminate poverty, reduce inequality in and between countries, eliminate gender inequality among others.